Santiago is Chile's capital and largest city and has become one of Latin America's most developed metropolitan areas.
I invite you to take a look!

03 September 2006

Native trees of Chile

I took this picture from the top of the Victoria Tower. The day was foggy, so you can't see much of Santiago. What you see are the two most characteristic chilean trees. The first one is the Chilean Palm (Jubaea chilensis), which is endemic of Chile. You can eat its coconuts and its sap, which is really good. The one in the back is an Araucaria (Araucaria araucana), it's endemic both of Chile and Argentina, and was recently declared Natural Monument of Chile. You can eat its seeds, called "piñones", which are very high in energy and were the base of the Mapuche (chilean original inhabitants) diet. Sadly, these beautiful trees are at risk of extinction...